Gabrielle awoke to the sensation of someone lightly stroking her face. Smiling quietly to herself, she opened her eyes to see the one she loved most gazing down at her with such a look of devotion it momentarily took her breath away.

"Good morning, sleepy head."

The bard stretched, raising her arms above her head, and arched her back in a most delicious manner. She settled back to the pallet, draping her arms around her lover, and pulled her in for an intimate kiss.

"Mmmm," Xena responded to the bard's embrace. "I see I was right...it is a good morning." The smile reached her eyes, making them twinkle all the more, if that were possible.

"And it's going to get better," the blonde promised as she shifted her weight slightly, and pushed Xena onto her back. "Unless you're in a hurry to leave...," her hands already making expert designs over the dark haired woman's body, kneeling by the warrior's side.

With a low growl, Xena stopped the wandering hands, grasping them softly but firmly, and guided them to rest atop her own breasts. She saw the woman above her close her eyes and grit her teeth as the evidence of her arousal was revealed, her nipples aching to be touched, just as the throbbing at her center became more insistent.

"Love me, Gabrielle. Show me and tell me how much..." Xena's hands pressed more firmly, needing her partner to feel her body's response to her lovemaking. The warrior entwined her fingers with the bard's, so both pairs of hands could make a sensual dance into a duet.

"I do love you," her voice ragged, Gabrielle fought to regain her composure while her senses were assaulted with the clues to her lover's readiness. She opened her eyes, easily recognizing the love she saw in the blue gaze, and knowing she was helpless to do anything else, she lowered her face to meet Xena's, her lips only a heartbeat away. "I knew I would have to be yours from the moment I saw you. Your courage. Your power. Your..."

The last word went unsaid as Xena surged upward, and captured those tantalizing lips, fiercely working her tongue into the warm, waiting embrace of Gabrielle. The kiss was returned with equal enthusiasm, Xena at last letting the bard regain her breath.

"Your passion." Heart hammering in her chest, emotions at their peak, the bard realized that Xena wanted this experience to be a ravishment, she wanted to be taken, and she wanted to give herself to Gabrielle. The sense of power that ran with that thought enflamed the young woman, and willingly, she accepted the challenge.

The bard increased the pressure she was applying to her woman's breasts when she felt Xena's hands slip away to curl into useless fists, beating ineffectually on the bed.

"But more than loving you," the blonde said as her right hand left it's duties, and trailed unerringly down the warrior's body, "I need you."

Gabrielle shifted again, bringing her knee between the longer legs of Xena, a musky scent filling the air, further heightening the tension between the two.

"I want you."

The insistent fingers tangled themselves in the wiry hair that covered the warrior's most private self. Gabrielle leaned down so she could whisper the last into Xena's ear.

"And I'm going to take you."

And without further warning or foreplay, she thrust three fingers into the silky inner wetness, plunging deep inside.

The cry that left Xena's lips was the only proof the Gabrielle needed to assure her that she was succeeding in her goal. The frantically bucking hips and arching back nearly threw her from her perch as Xena again and again slammed herself to the bed, only to rise again, wordlessly striving for the fullness she needed.

When Gabrielle effortlessly slid in another finger, she guessed what Xena wanted, and really needed from her. She waited for her lover to raise off the pallet again, and when she did, the younger woman slid home the last and fullest finger, feeling the inner working muscles of Xena drawing her inside, until she could feel the soft spongy part that always sent her woman over the edge.

"Ahhh, yessss..." Gabrielle groaned along with her lover, unable to hold back her own excitement, her own wonder of being able to possess Xena to this ultimate extent. "Yes...Xena, give me that, yes..." the bard managed to say before the following words became incoherent. Her fingers swirled and strained inside the warrior, who writhed under the sensual attack, her own breathing choked and gasping.

The sensation that followed was unlike any Xena had experienced before. Shudder after shudder of passion flooded through her body, her limbs almost becoming useless until that last wave hit her and took her under. She planted the soles of her feet on the pallet, and raised once more to feel the fullness Gabrielle brought to her, and screamed the name of her lover. After endless moments, Xena fell limply back to earth, her heartbeat ringing in her ears, her ability to catch her breath out of control. Still reeling from the exquisite feeling inside her, the warrior sighed when she felt Gabrielle slowly and carefully remove her hand from it's intimate glove.

"Ahh..." the strangled cry was ripped from her throat when the slippery hand latched onto the hyper sensitive nub. "Not again," Xena panted. "Not so soon," even as she felt her body respond to the touches as she crested yet another sensual wave. Incredibly, sensing that Gabrielle wasn't done with her yet, she threw back her head and arched helplessly when the bard's tongue circled her opening, seeking entrance as she lapped up the juices and soothed what little soreness that might be there. Unable and unwilling to stop her body's response to her lover, another surge of her arousal wet Gabrielle's lips, as Xena again climaxed against the woman. Exhausted, she again fell to the bed, her sweat soaked hair sticking to her forehead.

The younger woman finished stroking her lover's inner sheath, and couldn't resist nuzzling against the erect button one more time. The weak moan that greeted her convinced the bard that Xena couldn't possibly take another session, although she herself thought she could stay like this all morning. Instead, she climbed cat like up the warrior's body, letting her lover feel every inch of her skin rubbing against her own. A weak hand found the bard's upper arm, and dragged her to a comfortable position laying along side the resting dark haired woman. Taking advantage of the situation, Gabrielle laid her head on the strong shoulder, and possessively threw her left arm and leg over her partner.

"Thank you." The compliment was lower than a whisper.

"You're thanking me?" The bard softly kissed the arm that was cradling her. "Xena, you don't know how wonderful I feel when I make you lose control like that. All I ever want to do is show you my love, to make you feel safe, to be with you. I didn't know it was possible to love anyone as much as I love you. I...I just can't explain it any better."

"My bard is finally speechless?" A lazy smile spread across the warrior's face. "If I knew that joining with you would get you to be a little more quiet, I would have married you ages ago."

"Well, it doesn't work all the time, my big, weak, warrior." A quick kiss on the passion bruised lips and a small giggle escaped from Gabrielle while she playfully ruffled Xena's hair before reclaiming her position in the woman's embrace.

"Oh, and now you've gone from speechlessness to taunting me. You do like to take chances, don't you, my little bard? First, following a warrior on her dangerous path, and then marrying her." Xena wrapped her arms more firmly around her wife. "And I still think I can get you to stop talking for a while..."

Gabrielle shivered when she felt the backs of Xena's fingers travelling up and down her arm. She scootched up even closer to her woman, the body language telling Xena that the playfulness had changed into something else.

The warrior regained her familiar place above Gabrielle, and lowered her mouth to a waiting kiss.